John Whitehead's Commentary
America Standing at the Crossroads
We have traveled a long, hard road since John F. Kennedy challenged Americans to "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country."
Unfortunately, over the past 50 years America seems to have lost her way and, as a result, we are losing faith in ourselves and our country. We are a nation in need of hope, wisdom, and moral leadership in every sector--business, science, politics, religion, and so on.
Since the early '60s, Americans have stood silently by as religion, and even an expression of a belief in God, was stripped from most public places, including the public schools--first by court rulings and later by zealous private interest groups devoted to erasing our religious heritage.
Since the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, Americans have watched helplessly as millions of unborn babies were aborted. And while doctors are aborting unborn children, scientists are playing God by trying to recreate life in a test tube.
Since the 1990s, many of those in power have turned a blind eye to sex scandals among our political and religious leaders, virtually ensuring the destruction of any hope of moral leadership. Business executives are looting their companies and stealing from their investors. And by tolerating the unethical scandals in the business arena, I fear we may have further eroded any hope of a strong foundation on which to continue building this nation.
The stock market is going up and down like a pogo stick. People are losing their jobs, and businesses are going under while our President and Congress seem preoccupied with international matters.
We have also failed to take seriously our responsibility to help the less fortunate. Too often, when confronted by suffering and pain, we have turned away and chosen the path of least resistance--virtually buried beneath the glitz and glamour of our materialistic lifestyles. We have failed to love, to care for, and to help the weak, the suffering, the oppressed, the poor, the needy, and the lonely.
Across America, families and children are starving. There are over 14 million children living in poverty, with more than one million of them living in the streets homeless. And as the homeless and the poor, including children, continue to increase at an unprecedented rate, other schoolchildren are turning to violence and killing as outlets for their angst--or simply dropping out of a system that breeds apathy.
Thousands of disillusioned citizens have separated themselves from the country and aligned with militias. Indeed, domestic terrorism--as we saw with the Oklahoma City bombing of 1994--has become a real threat, much on the same scale as threats from foreign terrorists.
Snipers are running loose, terrorizing communities and claiming innocent lives. And young girls are being snatched from their beds, only to be raped, murdered, and discarded like pieces of trash.
Unfortunately, these calamities are just the tip of the iceberg.
We are witnessing the outward signs of an inner problem, a festering sore. There are deeper concerns that need to be attended to for the sake of the future of this country. If not, we are facing some serious consequences.
Obviously, it is time to focus on the things that matter. And now is the time to turn things around, if possible.
Politicians, while mouthing empty promises, will tell you that it's enough to get out and vote, but that is not enough. Religious leaders will tell you that it's enough to attend a weekly church service, but that is not enough. Charitable groups will tell you that it's enough to write a check, but even that is not enough. What it will take to turn this country around is for all Americans to commit to being better neighbors, better citizens, and better friends to those around us who are in need and suffering.
So how can we make some positive changes?
First, we need to build strong families. It's time to prioritize our families, ensure they're protected from the onslaught of our materialistic culture and government intrusions. But with our society and the entertainment industry being so hedonistic, it's difficult for children to sustain values taught in the home. More alarming, the high rate of divorce has resulted in more broken families and displaced children.
Recent studies on the character of young people show there is little difference between the ethics of children attending public schools and those in religious schools. We need to give our young people a more solid moral foundation on which to build. And this must start in the family and be reinforced by our schools and society-at-large.
We need to hold our government officials accountable. For years, the federal bureaucracy has been growing at a rapid pace. Since Sept. 11, 2001, with the legislation and creation of new government bureaucracies, the federal government is the most pervasive and invasive that it's ever been. This is just the opposite of the kind of government our founding fathers envisioned. Even in a limited government sense, they were so fearful of a large government that they added ten amendments to the Constitution to protect citizens. The courts, however, have chipped at those amendments for years now. And if we don't protect our constitutional rights, I'm afraid we may lose them for future generations.
Thus far, the track record for most Americans has not reflected the hunger for freedom or the love of country that our forefathers exhibited. We are too easily shaken. For example, following the Sept. 11 tragedy, rather than embracing our liberties and reaffirming our hard-won freedoms, we completely altered our way of life at the whim of a handful of terrorists.
But the path of least resistance has never been the American way.
In America, we have a legacy that has been handed down to us by brave men and women who knew what it was to sacrifice for their beliefs--individuals who, when faced with almost certain defeat, still chose to stand and fight.
America stands at a crossroads, and we have a chance--right now--to influence the road she will travel in the coming years. There are many choices available to us: security versus freedom, upholding the sanctity of human life versus allowing human beings to play God, hedonism versus moral certitude, and self-interest versus the traditional family.
I pray we can make the right choices--the American choices--right now. Tomorrow may be too late.
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
Unfortunately, over the past 50 years America seems to have lost her way and, as a result, we are losing faith in ourselves and our country. We are a nation in need of hope, wisdom, and moral leadership in every sector--business, science, politics, religion, and so on.
Since the early '60s, Americans have stood silently by as religion, and even an expression of a belief in God, was stripped from most public places, including the public schools--first by court rulings and later by zealous private interest groups devoted to erasing our religious heritage.
Since the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, Americans have watched helplessly as millions of unborn babies were aborted. And while doctors are aborting unborn children, scientists are playing God by trying to recreate life in a test tube.
Since the 1990s, many of those in power have turned a blind eye to sex scandals among our political and religious leaders, virtually ensuring the destruction of any hope of moral leadership. Business executives are looting their companies and stealing from their investors. And by tolerating the unethical scandals in the business arena, I fear we may have further eroded any hope of a strong foundation on which to continue building this nation.
The stock market is going up and down like a pogo stick. People are losing their jobs, and businesses are going under while our President and Congress seem preoccupied with international matters.
We have also failed to take seriously our responsibility to help the less fortunate. Too often, when confronted by suffering and pain, we have turned away and chosen the path of least resistance--virtually buried beneath the glitz and glamour of our materialistic lifestyles. We have failed to love, to care for, and to help the weak, the suffering, the oppressed, the poor, the needy, and the lonely.
Across America, families and children are starving. There are over 14 million children living in poverty, with more than one million of them living in the streets homeless. And as the homeless and the poor, including children, continue to increase at an unprecedented rate, other schoolchildren are turning to violence and killing as outlets for their angst--or simply dropping out of a system that breeds apathy.
Thousands of disillusioned citizens have separated themselves from the country and aligned with militias. Indeed, domestic terrorism--as we saw with the Oklahoma City bombing of 1994--has become a real threat, much on the same scale as threats from foreign terrorists.
Snipers are running loose, terrorizing communities and claiming innocent lives. And young girls are being snatched from their beds, only to be raped, murdered, and discarded like pieces of trash.
Unfortunately, these calamities are just the tip of the iceberg.
We are witnessing the outward signs of an inner problem, a festering sore. There are deeper concerns that need to be attended to for the sake of the future of this country. If not, we are facing some serious consequences.
Obviously, it is time to focus on the things that matter. And now is the time to turn things around, if possible.
Politicians, while mouthing empty promises, will tell you that it's enough to get out and vote, but that is not enough. Religious leaders will tell you that it's enough to attend a weekly church service, but that is not enough. Charitable groups will tell you that it's enough to write a check, but even that is not enough. What it will take to turn this country around is for all Americans to commit to being better neighbors, better citizens, and better friends to those around us who are in need and suffering.
So how can we make some positive changes?
First, we need to build strong families. It's time to prioritize our families, ensure they're protected from the onslaught of our materialistic culture and government intrusions. But with our society and the entertainment industry being so hedonistic, it's difficult for children to sustain values taught in the home. More alarming, the high rate of divorce has resulted in more broken families and displaced children.
Recent studies on the character of young people show there is little difference between the ethics of children attending public schools and those in religious schools. We need to give our young people a more solid moral foundation on which to build. And this must start in the family and be reinforced by our schools and society-at-large.
We need to hold our government officials accountable. For years, the federal bureaucracy has been growing at a rapid pace. Since Sept. 11, 2001, with the legislation and creation of new government bureaucracies, the federal government is the most pervasive and invasive that it's ever been. This is just the opposite of the kind of government our founding fathers envisioned. Even in a limited government sense, they were so fearful of a large government that they added ten amendments to the Constitution to protect citizens. The courts, however, have chipped at those amendments for years now. And if we don't protect our constitutional rights, I'm afraid we may lose them for future generations.
Thus far, the track record for most Americans has not reflected the hunger for freedom or the love of country that our forefathers exhibited. We are too easily shaken. For example, following the Sept. 11 tragedy, rather than embracing our liberties and reaffirming our hard-won freedoms, we completely altered our way of life at the whim of a handful of terrorists.
But the path of least resistance has never been the American way.
In America, we have a legacy that has been handed down to us by brave men and women who knew what it was to sacrifice for their beliefs--individuals who, when faced with almost certain defeat, still chose to stand and fight.
America stands at a crossroads, and we have a chance--right now--to influence the road she will travel in the coming years. There are many choices available to us: security versus freedom, upholding the sanctity of human life versus allowing human beings to play God, hedonism versus moral certitude, and self-interest versus the traditional family.
I pray we can make the right choices--the American choices--right now. Tomorrow may be too late.
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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